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I was in the OldCity's Shuk some time ago and happened upon something small, blue and beautiful. The label read Phoenician Glassworks and I quickly marked in my mind that this was some sort of tourist trap item piggybacking on the success of other seaside Mediterranean hubs of culture.

I was a little surprised that with a bit of research I turned up the following. Yes, Akko was a Phoenician city of some significance (this I knew already). This is true partially because Akko held the secret to Phoenicia's glassmaking trade.

The folktale version of the Phoenician discovery of glass goes something like this by Pliny the Elder…

…Phoenician Sailors brought natrum, a subcarbonate of soda to the area of Acre (Akko). Seeking shore leave from their journey, the sailors found dry land to cook themselves supper. Finding no stones to set their pots on for cooking, these seafaring men brought out a bit of their ship's stock of natrum. Heated by the fire and mixing with the beaches sand created glass streams.

As Phoenicia.org suggests "There is nothing impossible or even very improbable in this story."

So not only was Akko a hub of Phoenician glassmaking, but perhaps the home to the Phoenician discovery of glass manipulation.